Rathbones Group PLC Sells 13,279 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 242,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,279 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $34,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 151.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 406.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.29 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $154.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.45. The company has a market capitalization of $204.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 89.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight PepsiCo’s portfolio reset, pricing power, and innovation in zero-sugar, functional, and “better-for-you” snacks and drinks as potential growth drivers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest Rs 5,700 crore through 2030 to expand capacity, which could support long-term growth in an important international market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: At the annual meeting, shareholders elected David W. Gibbs to the board and rejected proposals for an independent board chair and additional human-rights and animal-welfare reporting, suggesting governance issues remain in focus but are not a major near-term catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing PepsiCo with Coca-Cola underscores that PEP is working to balance pricing power and distribution scale against margin pressure from higher input and operating costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say PepsiCo plans to raise prices on some smaller chip bags because of higher production, distribution, and retail expenses in the U.S., which may raise concerns about volume softness if consumers push back. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly cut its price target on PepsiCo to $160, adding to the cautious tone around near-term margins and execution. Article Title

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.